Uber and Airbus 'pair-up for on-demand helicopter service'

Uber has teamed up with aerospace giant Airbus for an on-demand helicopter service.

The controversial taxi-hailing app will use Airbus choppers for the project, which will launch at this week's Sundance Film Festival.

The arrangement was revealed by Airbus boss Tom Enders in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Enders told the newspaper: "It's a pilot project, we’ll see where it goes — but it’s pretty exciting."

No financial details of the partnership were provided.

The tie-up follows Uber's previous helicopter trials. In 2013 in New York it offered UberChopper for flights between Manhattan and the Hamptons and operated a similar service at the last Cannes Film Festival.

The price has varied between several hundred and several thousands of dollars, the WSJ said.

The latest version will see customers get picked up and taken to their waiting aircraft, Airbus told the publication.

The move follows Uber's attempts to branch out from car rides. It has tried an on-demand rickshaw service in India and boats in Turkey.